


this side of paradise

by growlery writes (growlery)



Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Chatlogs, Ensemble Cast, F/F, Secret Samol, Space Pinterest, Wedding Fluff, counterweight spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-31
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2019-02-18 09:06:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13096869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/growlery/pseuds/growlery%20writes
Summary: “I’mnotchanging my name,” Jacqui says, “Jacqui Joie, fuck,” and Aria giggles.





	this side of paradise

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dumplingsquid](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dumplingsquid/gifts).



> this is my secret samol fic for wyveraries. wedding fluff! what a good prompt i hope you like this

“I’m _not_ changing my name,” Jacqui says, “Jacqui Joie, fuck,” and Aria giggles.

“I think it has a ring to it,” she says, then does a little gasp and clasps Jacqui’s hands in hers. “Jacqui. _Jacqui_. We need to get rings.”

**

It happens after Aria returns from Ibex’s summons. She sent a message ahead to let Jacqui know the situation, and Jacqui falls upon her the moment Aria gets home, holds her tight. 

Aria feels numb. She never fully believed this day would come, that Rigour would return, even if she should've, even if she's felt the echoes of its death knell for longer than she wants to admit to herself. It's hard to distinguish it from the other sounds, is the thing. She's heard variations on the theme her whole life, with OriCon, at the Joypark. 

It was okay, back then. She was a kid chasing fame and fortune and some kind of legacy in this garbage galaxy. She didn't want a quiet life. She couldn't miss what she didn't know to want. 

“Let's get married,” she says suddenly. Jacqui is still holding her, but she pulls back a little to look Aria in the eyes, her face open. “The world is ending, and if we don't survive this, I want to go down with you by my side.”

“I’ll be there with you every step of the way,” Jacqui says, grave for just a moment, and then her face splits with a smile that makes Aria’s heart soar. “Yes, of fucking course, _yes_.”

The marriage procedure itself is simple. It's an automated application for a legal declaration of partnership, entitling each member an equal share of their pooled assets. 

“Which is nothing from me,” Jacqui says grimly, and Aria leans the small distance between them to kiss her cheek. 

“My kept woman,” she says, eyes sparkling, and Jacqui hides her face, huffs a laugh, says, “I don't think I'd mind being kept by you, honestly.”

“If we live that long,” Aria says, to cover the way she's suddenly lit up from the inside, overflowing with warmth. 

It doesn't take long for the system to verify the union once they've filled in all their details, and Aria holds her breath and Jacqui’s hands as they watch the old-school bar tick down to one hundred percent. 

_Marriage accepted._

_Congratulations._

**

Of course, then they do make it out alive, and, well, they've got a wedding to plan. 

**

Mako: dibs on maid of honour

Cass: um

Cass: no 

Cass: in what way are you maid of honour material 

Cass: I'm a far more suitable candidate 

AuDy: It's an incredibly antiquated tradition. 

AuDy: I highly doubt either Aria or Jacqui desire such a thing. 

Mako: they’re doing RINGS

Mako: rings are way more antiquated right????

Mako: @cass fight me for it 

Aria: yeah no audy’s right

Aria: glad you guys are so invested haha

Mako: :( 

Mako: but if you WERE to have a maid of honour

Mako: it’d totally be me right

Mako: ?

Aria: um

Aria: jamil’s been my bff since before i was a wee innocent child delivering myself to oricon 

Mako: so that’s a yes, right

Mako: right??

Cass: :)))

**

Cass: of course you can have our grandest hall for the ceremony

Cass: the surrounding grounds aren’t too shabby if you'd like to conduct the ceremony outside 

Aria: “not too shabby”

Aria: lolllllllll

Aria: thanks cass

Aria: we’re looking at somewhere but if that falls through i’ll definitely hit you up

Cass: where

Aria: just a place

Cass: where. 

Aria: it’s a pipe dream tbh i don’t wanna say and feel silly 

Cass: that's fair

Cass: so where is it 

Aria: SIGH 

**

AuDy: Hello Aria. 

Aria: hey audy what’s up? 

AuDy: I understand you require an officiant for your ceremony. 

AuDy: I have completed the necessary certification and upgrades. 

Aria: oh

Aria: that’s really sweet of you 

Aria: but we’ve already asked sister rust

Aria: she just needs us to write our own vows and then she's ready 

AuDy: Understandable. 

Aria: but honestly thank you so much 

Aria: I appreciate you doing that for us

AuDy: Not at all. 

**

Aria: mako 

Aria: MAKO

Aria: mako if you hack my space pinterest account again you’re fucken disinvited

Mako: noooooooo

Mako: what if i only add Good suggestions to your wedding board

Aria: literally none of your suggestions are good suggestions

Mako: shot through the fucking heart, man

Mako: fine 

Aria: :) thx

Aria: ps do you think lazer ted would dj if we asked

Mako: lolllll

Mako: he’d pay you to let him do it tbh 

Aria: oh okay cool

Mako: …

Mako: wait

Mako: you were serious???

Mako: aria

Mako: ARIA

**

“I’ll never hear the end of it if I don’t invite the Chime,” Aria says decisively, and Jacqui laughs.

“Is that including Orth?” she asks, and Aria nods. 

“Definitely Jamil,” she continues, “and then she’ll bring Jace and Addax as her plus two, of course. Ugh, should I invite Ibex? I feel like I should, like, politically or whatever, but it’d totally cause trouble and we’re not having people starting fights on our goddamn wedding day.”

Jacqui doesn’t say anything. Her face has sort of closed down, no sign of the quiet glowing happiness that’s always present when they’re talking about the wedding. Aria instantly guilty for just spilling out all her excitement, insisting on taking the spotlight, as always. 

“What about you, who do you want to invite?” she asks, and Jacqui just shrugs. 

“Tea, I guess,” she says. “She’s cool.”

“Oh yeah, totally,” Aria agrees. When nothing more is forthcoming, she ventures, “Anyone else?”

Jacqui shrugs again. “Jillian, maybe,” she says. “If that’s okay with you.”

Even if it weren’t, Aria’s not sure she could say to no Jacqui right now, not when her eyes are so heavy and her mouth is turning down. 

“Sure, of course,” she says, and then, after a moment's hesistation, “Hey, do you need a hug?”

Jacqui squeezes her eyes shut and barks out a laugh. “I’m fine. Don’t- I’m fine.”

“You don’t look like you’re fine,” Aria says quietly. “We don’t have to talk about this. I’m sorry I pressed you.”

“It’s fine,” she repeats. “It’s just- I don’t really have anyone, you know? It was always just me and Jillian.”

“Oh, baby,” Aria says. Her heart hurts. 

She holds out her hands, offering, and Jacqui steps into them, bending her head down to rest against Aria’s shoulder, arms tight at her sides. Aria hears her take a long breath, then another, then another, and then Jacqui’s arms wrap around Aria’s waist. 

“Just me and you now,” Jacqui says brightly, “and you're contractually obligated to spend your life with me, so you're stuck with me.” 

Aria squeezes her tight. “I’m not anywhere I don’t want to be,” she says, and feels Jacqui press a smile into her neck. 

**

“Thanks for meeting me,” Jacqui says, and Sister Rust says, “How are you doing with your vows?”

Jacqui hides her face in her Constellation Coffee cup. “I,” she starts, then makes a frustrated noise. “I don't- she's the one who's good at this kind of thing, at saying what she's feeling and making it sound- making it sound _good_.”

“It doesn't need to sound good,” Sister Rust says, “it just needs to be real.”

“It needs to be good,” Jacqui says, sort of more fiercely than she'd meant to. She looks down. “She's so- she's so goddamn special, you know? It needs to be special.”

“Special,” Sister Rust repeats. “Is that how you think of her?”

“Don't you?”

“It doesn't matter what I think,” she says. “I'm not the one married to her.”

Jacqui makes a face. There goes her plan to talk Sister Rust into writing them for her. She likes the idea of it, how personal it'll be, but she wishes she could pour her heart into a computer and just have it spit out some perfectly formed words instead. 

“What do people normally say?” Jacqui asks, and Sister Rust shrugs. 

“How they feel, usually.” Sister Rust gives her a considering look. “How do you feel?”

Jacqui makes another face. “I don't know.”

“Yes you do,” Sister Rust says, and Jacqui huffs. 

“Okay, yeah, but I can't describe it. It's- it's too big for words.”

“Go on,” Sister Rust says. 

Jacqui takes a breath, licks over her bottom lip, thinks. “Don't laugh,” she says, “but it's like a really big explosion.”

Sister Rust bites her lip. “I wouldn't laugh,” she says. “Imagery is useful. How is it like an explosion.”

“You set the charges, you wait a bit, and then _boom_. Meeting her was that first bit.” Jacqui laughs. “She ever tell you she asked me out while I was trying to kill her?”

Sister Rust blinks. “It worked, I'm guessing.”

Jacqui nods. “She's a charmer. Then it's the anticipation, knowing something big is coming, and you might be scared but you're still itching for it. And then… boom.”

“And which part,” Sister Rust says, “was the _boom_?”

Jacqui ducks her head. “Falling in love with her,” she says. “And it's still exploding inside me.”

“Oh, Jacqui,” Sister Rust says, and then, “I think you've got your vows.”

**

“We have a crisis,” Mako announces. When this elicits only an eyebrow raise from Aria, he sighs dramatically. “LT is freaking _out_.”

“...about?” Aria says. “It's just a playlist.”

“Oh no,” Mako says, shaking his head vigorously on the vidscreen, “he's writing a _song.”_

Aria blinks. 

“It was supposed to be a surprise but he's convinced you're gonna hate it,” Mako tells her. “Can you listen to it real quick and let me know if I should tell him to ditch it?”

“Sure,” Aria says. “I'm sure it's fine. That song we did together was really good.”

“It was decent,” Mako says, and Aria says, “You have shitty taste; send it over.”

Aria closes her eyes, lets the first bars wash over her. It starts off slow, languorous, winding through pitch and melody, and Aria sees them dancing together in her mind's eye. Then it switches into something faster, and Aria sees Jacqui’s face light up, pull Aria closer, twirl her around the space. 

She feels a smile stretch her face, but then it switches again, becomes something more melancholy, becomes a thing of longing. Her heart clenches. The Jacqui of her mind smiles, a little sad, and Aria thinks fiercely that she will do whatever is in her power to make sure the real Jacqui never looks like that. Not again. 

She sends Mako a quick message, then has to go find Jacqui and crawl into her lap. Jacqui promptly puts her tablet down and winds her now free hand into Aria’s hair. Aria leans into it, burrows into Jacqui’s belly, sighs. 

“What's wrong, my love,” Jacqui says. 

Aria can't speak for a moment. She takes a few deep breaths and then says, muffled, “We're getting _married_.”

“We're already married,” Jacqui says gently, and, “This was your idea.”

“I know,” Aria says. “ _I know_.”

“Not having second thoughts, are you,” Jacqui says, and Aria’s head rockets up because Jacqui might sound light and breezy but Aria knows her better than that. Sure enough, Jacqui’s face is frozen calm, something terrible in her smile. 

“Never,” Aria says. “Jacqui. _Never_.”

“Well, good,” Jacqui says, still light, “divorces are ridiculously expensive.”

**

They land on Weight as the sun is rising, and Aria takes Jacqui by the hand to lead her to the beach. They fought here during the war, of course, but there was no time for anything but violence. Aria never got to see Jacqui’s face light up with wonder and joy, but she's so grateful to be able to see it now, at last, on the morning of their wedding. 

“Real sand,” Jacqui says, hushed. “Real sea.”

She turns her smile on Aria, and if they weren't already married, Aria would've proposed on the spot. 

**

They gather on the beach when the sun is at its highest in the sky. Aria stands across from Jacqui, holding each of her hands, and feels like she'll never stop smiling. She barely hears Sister Rust welcoming the guests over the rushing in her ears, half the waves and half her pounding heart. 

_love is more thicker than forget_  
more thinner than recall  
more seldom than a wave is wet  
more frequent than to fail  
  
_it is most mad and moony_  
and less it shall unbe  
than all the sea which only  
is deeper than the sea  
  
_love is less always than to win_  
less never than alive  
less bigger than the least begin  
less littler than forgive  
  
it is most sane and sunny  
and more it cannot die  
than all the sky which only  
is higher than the sky

Sister Rust finishes the old Earth poem and turns to them, quirks her eyebrows. It's Jacqui first, and Aria watches her suck in a breath, squeeze her eyes shut for just a moment. When they open again, Aria mouths, _I love you_ , and Jacqui smiles. 

Aria’s crying before Jacqui is done, her heart so full it feels like it will burst. She thinks she'll fumble her own vows, but once she gets started it flows out of her like a song. 

“I'm just,” Aria says, “so happy,” and Jacqui brings their joined hands to her lips. 

**Author's Note:**

> i'm on twitter [@cryingonsundays](http://twitter.com/cryingonsundays) and tumblr [@growlereish](http://growlereish.tumblr.com/), come talk to me about this beautiful show


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